Page 44

CHAPTER 44

BOWEN

“P eople are always causing some kind of problem,” Raiden muttered from where he stood next to me outside the store. He’d been keeping an eye out after a passerby had stolen some of Dee’s canned goods. Not all the people who used Deadwood to refuel after a long trip were conniving, but every now and then, we got a thief whose hands were a little too grabby.

A chorus of shouts and hollers rang out right as a horse coated in blood galloped into the town, emerging from between two buildings and stampeding through a group of people waiting in line outside the butcher’s. Raiden and I shoved off the wall as the horse stormed past with no intention of stopping. A strap of white cloth was stuck to the saddle, and my senses instantly lit up in alarm, my smoke curling within me, searching for a threat.

No one was out in the forest today that I was aware of, but that was one of our horses. Worst case scenarios flashed through my mind as Raiden looked in the direction the horse had come, likely waiting to see if anything else appeared. But while he was looking at ground level, my eyes were trained on the sky as Vulcan circled once, then landed in the middle of the street, leg outstretched to me.

It is the girl, Vulcan said hurriedly. He never panicked, and the concern in his voice ringing through my mind had me moving.

“Stay here,” I called back to Raiden, not bothering to see if he had heard me. The amount of blood on that horse… If it was Auria’s…

I couldn’t think of that. She was alright. There was no other option. I mounted Vulcan faster than ever, and before I was even situated on his back, his wings were pounding the air, darting us into the sky.

“What happened?” I shouted over the roar of the wind.

Wolves , was all he said.

My veins turned to ice. If she’d been bitten, the venom would kill her quicker than blood loss.

I wanted to urge him faster, but he was already going at a speed I’d never seen before. The way even he was frantic did nothing to settle me. He knew it was bad.

Trees rushed by in a blur before Vulcan was mere inches from the branches, finding a spot to land. As soon as his feet hit the ground, I was off and sprinting toward the small, bloodied form on the ground. A horse, torn open at its neck and belly, lay deceased, and three giant horned wolves littered the ground around the scene, their chests not moving as they lay dead. Blood was everywhere, but through all the chaos surrounding the area, I could only focus on Auria.

My knees slammed into the ground as I lowered myself beside her. Lander was there, holding a blood-soaked jacket to her neck.

“Auria,” I said hurriedly, but with no response, I leaned down closer, setting both hands on her blood-streaked cheeks. Her skin was so cold, but with the faint rise of her chest, I had hope. “Auria, open your eyes.”

Lander let out a strangled sound. “She passed out.”

I wanted to kill him for letting her lie here, bleeding out and dying. Why hadn’t he gone for help? Done anything but sit here and watch her fucking die?

But I couldn’t focus on him. Auria needed me. I could handle him later.

I leaned down farther, sliding an arm under her shoulders, the other under the bend of her knees, and murmured in her ear, “I’m sorry, Princess. I’m here. Stay alive for me, okay? I’m going to get you help, but you have to stay alive.”

I stood, careful not to jostle her too much. The jacket fell to the ground with a thump, the fabric heavy from her blood. One look at her neck and the black that etched its way through her delicate skin like ribbons told me we didn’t have much time. Her arm slipped, dangling at an awkward angle, and I realized all too quickly that it’d come out of its socket, the joint loose. I gently righted the limb, holding it close to her body. Knowing the pain she must have felt sent rage skating over my skin, my power flicking at my bones, aching to take vengeance. But revenge didn’t matter—not right now. Keeping Auria alive did.

I rushed over to Vulcan, who’d lowered himself as far as he could to help me get up. Once I was on his back, Auria’s limp body cradled in my arms, he took off in the air, leaving Lander behind. I’d have Siara or Flynt go back to get him, but right now, Auria was all that mattered.

As Vulcan’s wings beat relentlessly in the air, a whimper escaped Auria’s lips. I brushed the caked hair away from her forehead, shushing her. “I’ve got you. I won’t let you die. Not today. Not any day.”

Her skin was so pale, and now more than ever I wanted to see her bright eyes, hear her yell at me, or call me names, or tell me she hated me. I wanted to feel her warm skin, see her glimmering smile, and watch the way her nose scrunched the slightest bit when she was fighting her emotions. I wanted to toy with her, tease her, be the one who stole all her attention.

But that wouldn’t happen if she died, and I realized with all too much clarity that if she left, it’d be the same feeling I felt right now. I’d never get any piece of Auria again, and that wasn’t a fate I was willing to accept.

Vulcan banked to the right, landing behind my house and lowering himself once more. I quickly, but extremely carefully, dismounted, sliding down his leg to the ground. Raiden and Doctor Quinn emerged from the house, and one look at Auria’s frail form in my arms had Raiden’s jaw going taut.

Doctor Quinn acted immediately, holding the door open wide for us to enter. “What happened?”

“Wolf bite,” I told her. “And a dislocated shoulder. I don’t know what else.”

I wanted so badly to take Auria’s pain away. I’d do anything to make sure she was okay. That she felt none of what was to come.

Her wound gushed blood down my front as I took the stairs two at a time, a stream of it following me up the steps. I brought her directly to my room, Quinn rushing behind me to her medical bag sitting on the small table by the wall. She rifled through it until she held up a large needle, dark, murky green liquid sloshing inside the syringe.

I laid Auria on the bed, not bothering to pull back the sheets. I could clean and deal with those later.

Quinn stood on the other side of the bed, checking the dosage. “Anti-venom,” she explained. “I don’t know how long it’s been in her, so this may not work?—”

“Just do it,” I urged, my tone hard and laced with panic. Tears threatened to fall, but I wouldn’t let them. I had to be strong.

She was going to be okay. There was no other choice. Auria Tenere would not die on me today.

Quinn moved Auria’s blood-soaked hair away from the wound, and the moment she did, Auria started to thrash.

“It’s burning her veins,” Quinn said, as if the explanation would soothe me one bit.

I set a palm on Auria’s cheek, and instantly, she calmed, yet her breathing remained rapid. “I’m right here, Auria.” Gods, all I wanted was to see her eyes. To know she wasn’t on the verge of death. “I’m not leaving your side.” I’d never leave you.

Doctor Quinn slid the needle into the skin by Auria’s wound, injecting every last drop of the serum. As soon as the needle was gone, Auria yelled out, and the sound tore through every last defense I had, obliterating them entirely. Tears sprung to my eyes, but I tried to keep them at bay.

I couldn’t be weak now. Not for her.

I framed her face with my hands, resting my forehead against hers as she thrashed again. “It’s going to be over soon, Auria. Just a little longer. I promise.” My voice broke on the last word. I wasn’t even sure if she could hear me as she let out another scream, the veins in her neck bulging.

My smoke was dormant, eerily still and just as worried as I was over the potential outcome of this situation.

“What’s happening?” I gritted out, wishing like hell I could erase the sound of Auria’s pain from my brain forever.

“The serum is trying to null the venom, but it’s deep in her bloodstream.” The way Quinn’s sentence dropped off held no comfort.

Tears rolled down the sides of Auria’s face, and I tenderly wiped them away, despite the scream that ripped out of her, the sound ending on a whimper as her back bowed.

I tried to calm the frustration rolling through me, but it was no use. Auria’s life was out of my hands, and I fucking hated the helpless feeling that overtook me.

“You’re going to be okay, Princess. You have to be. I won’t let it be any other way.”

As if spilled from a bucket, black liquid sloshed out of her wound, coating the bed in a sticky slime. Once the substance stopped spurting, Quinn attempted to clean up the mess, and I helped replace the pillow under Auria’s head.

“That was the venom,” Quinn explained. “I can heal the wound and put her arm back in place now.”

She walked over to her bag, grabbing a healing vial, and returned to Auria’s side, uncorking the glass. Before she could tilt the vial to Auria’s lips and apply it to her injuries, the green liquid moved on its own accord, flowing out of the open glass in a floating stream.

We watched as ribbons cascaded through the air to caress the bleeding wound at Auria’s neck, stitching the skin back together like a doctor might with needle and thread. As it wrapped around her shoulder, her arm moved on its own, setting the joint back in place, and the red, sensitive skin went back to its pale color. The green substance hovered over her body for a moment, almost like it was checking for other injuries, before dissipating into her skin.

Quinn watched with wide, curious eyes. “I’ve never seen such a thing before. Magic has never behaved so…willingly.”

But despite the phenomenon that had just happened before us, I couldn’t take my eyes from Auria’s face. I couldn’t tell Quinn why the magic might have treated her so tenderly, willingly healing her without command, without sharing Auria’s secret. The magic cared for her like she always did for it, and this was its repayment.

“Thank you,” I croaked, my throat raw and swollen from unshed emotion.

“She may be out for a while,” Quinn said, walking back to her bag across the room. “Days, even. But she’ll be okay.” She stowed the syringe away, along with the now-empty vial. “She needs lots of rest, even when she does wake. Make sure she takes it easy.”

I wrapped my hand around Auria’s limp fingers. My knees had gone numb against the hardwood floor. My lips met the back of her hand as I gripped it, my elbows propped on the edge of the bed. She was so frail and weak in my giant bed, her breaths shallow and slow.

I wouldn’t leave her side until she woke. Until those big, glassy green eyes met mine.

“You saved her life, Bowen.”

I looked over to find Doctor Quinn watching me, curiosity etched into her gaze.

I shook my head, my thumb moving over Auria’s pale skin on its own accord. “You did, and I’m eternally grateful for it.”

She moved her bag from one hand to the other, coming up behind me to set a gentle palm on my shoulder. “She wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you. Get some rest. She’ll be here when you wake.”

Quinn left, closing the door behind her, but I think she already knew I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes until Auria awoke. Until then, I’d stay by her side. For when she did wake, I’d be there for her till the end of my days or if she told me to go. Even then, she’d have to force me.

Almost losing her had proved I wasn’t okay with her leaving. Hell, if she wasn’t asleep right now, I’d beg where I sat on my knees, pleading that the only space safe enough for her was by my side.

Auria had broken through the walls surrounding my heart as if they were merely thin as eggshells, and now that she was in there, I wouldn’t be letting her go.

No war could keep me from her, no feud big enough to make me stay away.

And if for some reason, she didn’t feel the same, I’d find a way to let her go.

I only feared it might break me in the process.